MorrisF1

Hello, everyone. Welcome to the 15th Undercutters podcast, reviewing the Japanese Grand Prix and looking ahead to the Bahrain Grand Prix, which is held in just a few days’ time. As always, if you want to get in touch I’m MorrisF1 at both Blue Sky and Twitter. The Japanese Grand Prix is a classic track, but would the race this year be fantastic or forgettable? Japanese Grand Prix Qualifying 00m22s Qualifying at the Japanese Grand Prix had some quite unexpected results. The two Saubers were out in Q1, Hulkenberg 16th and Bortoleto 17th. That isn’t too surprising, although Ocon leaving was a little more so. Doohan could only manage 19th which, after his big crash in FP2 due to leaving the DRS open into a corner, is making this a less than fantastic weekend for him. And slowest of them all was Stroll, who went on an off-track rally excursion. The first session of qualifying also saw a couple of problems for the rookies. Antonelli was having difficulty getting heat into his tyres, leadi...

Qualifying was quite unexpected. The two Saubers were out in Q1, Hulkenberg 16th and Bortoleto 17th. That isn’t too surprising, although Ocon leaving was a little more unexpected. Doohan could only manage 19th which, after his big crash in FP2 due to leaving the DRS open into a corner, is making this a less than fantastic weekend. And slowest of them all was Stroll, who went on a rally excursion. The first session of qualifying also saw a couple of problems for the rookies. Antonelli was having difficulty getting heat into his tyres, leading to understeer and compromising his lap time, although he was able to escape the session. Hadjar had seatbelt problems, which is obviously bad for safety but also bad for comfort in a gentleman’s tender portions. Hopefully this can be mended for the race. Q2 saw Gasly and Sainz the fastest men eliminated, although the Williams driver may end up further down the grid. Unfortunately, Sainz clearly blocked Hamilton on a hot lap during qualifying. He...

There was some tiny news since the last race, which I covered in the last podcast. For those who don’t read the transcripts and haven’t been paying any attention to F1: Lawson and Tsunoda have swapped seats. There’s been much sympathy for Lawson across the grid, including from an exasperated Verstappen. Comparing the two drivers will be one of the most interesting aspects of the year. Norris was fastest in first practice, a tenth and a half ahead of Russell, with Leclerc two and a half-tenths further back. The Monegasque was a tenth ahead of Hamilton and Verstappen, with Tsunoda another tenth slower. Alonso was just barely ahead of Hadjar, with Antonelli and Sainz rounding out the top 10. Piastri was down in 15th. The second session saw a big Doohan crash, and some grass on fire, which is quite unusual. The grass on fire brought out the red flag (twice), and reduced running means fewer drivers setting fast laps so the times are less representative than usual. This is especially the c...

Hello everyone, and welcome to the 14th Undercutters podcast. I’m your host, Morris. Today we’re going to look ahead to the Japanese Grand Prix, one of the classic tracks on the F1 calendar. If you want to get in touch you can find me on Twitter or Blue Sky at MorrisF1, or you can leave a comment on morrisf1.blogspot.com. We’ve had two races and one sprint so far, starting in soggy Australia and moving to dry China, where dirty air made passing difficult and reduced on-track action. Teams and drivers saw fortunes vary, although some, such as Tsunoda and Alonso, had bad luck at both. Quick Look at the Suzuka Circuit 00m 43s The Suzuka Circuit is the home of the Japanese Grand Prix, and is the only figure 8 circuit on the calendar, with sectors two and three having a crossover. At 5.8km long, the race will feature 53 laps. The Suzuka Circuit is not a forgiving place. There’s some run-off, but also a lot of gravel and close walls. Make a mistake and there’s a good chance a price will ...